TrueTubeEnter your email address below and we'll send you an email with a link reset your password
You need to have an account and be logged in to be able to add and manage your list of favourites. Login now or create an account
Katie is a nurse on a children’s ward and a practising Christian in the Roman Catholic Church. She is also gay. She talks honestly and movingly about how she struggled to reconcile her faith with her feelings, and about the welcome she eventually found in the church community.
A film by Adam Tyler.
Winner of the Digital Video category at the Jerusalem Awards 2016 and nominated in the Learning – Secondary category of the BAFTA Children’s Awards 2016
Muslim Birth Ceremonies – Omaima has a new baby cousin called Jenna and is looking forward to babysitting duties. Before Jenna was born, Omaima went to visit parents-to-be Hawra and Mustafa to talk about their plans for the birth and the various traditions that Muslim families follow when a baby is born.
TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:
AQA
Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices –Practices - Worship - Islam - Shahadah: declaration of faith and its place in Muslim practice.
Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices –Key beliefs - Authority - Islam - Risalah (Prophethood) including the role and importance of Muhammad
Edexcel
Area of Study 3 - Section 3: Living the Muslim Life - Islam - Shahadah as one of the Five Pillars: the nature, role and significance of Shahadah for Sunni and Shi’a Muslims, including reference to Surah 3: 17–21; why reciting Shahadah is important for Muslims, and its place in Muslim practice today.
Area of Study 1 - Section 1: Muslim Beliefs - Islam -RiSalah: the nature and importance of prophethood for Muslims, what the role of Muhannad teaches Muslims.
OCR
Component Group 1–Practices - Islam - The meaning of the Five Pillars: • Shahadah: sincerely reciting the Muslim profession of faith
Public acts of worship - The place of Shahadah in Muslim practice, including the first words uttered to a new born, for converting to the faith and said by/to the dying •Shahada has the only ‘non-action’ pillar
WJEC
2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Part A Islam - Core beliefs, teachings and practices - Practices - The Five Pillars of Sunni Islam -Prayer/ Salat Adhan call to prayer, praying at mosque and Friday Jummah prayer (Qur'an 15:9899, 29:45) Praying at home, private prayer (Du'ah) The preparations and intention for prayer: wudu and niyyah The significance and symbolism of the different prayer positions that make a rakat (sequence of prayer) Obligatory Acts Shahadah: the Muslim profession of faith in Allah and the prophet Muhammad; occasions when the Shahadah is recited, e.g. aqiqah ceremony, conversion to Islam Zakat: paying an alms (or charity) tax to benefit others, what zakat tax may be used for, and additional charity (saddaqah) Sawm: Fasting during the month of Ramadan. How and why Muslims fast during Ramadan and rules about halal and haram diet (Qur'an 2:183)
Eduqas
Component 3 (Route A): Study of a World Faith: Option 3: Islam:Practices: The Five Pillars of Sunni Islam: practices in Britain and elsewhere: Shahadah: the Muslim statement of faith: Qur'an 3:18
Muslim Birth Ceremonies
Omaima I'm Omaima, and this is my beautiful new cousin, Jenna. She was born just a few weeks ago, so I'm still a little bit nervous when I hold her. She's so tiny and fragile. In a Muslim family like ours, how we begin our lives is important. We believe that we are born Muslims and we don't become Muslims later on in life. Before Jenna was born, I went to speak to her mum and dad about their plans for her birth.
Omaima Hi, how are you?
Hawra How are you?
Mustafa I've really enjoyed married life. It's been a great opportunity to share all my thoughts, my ideas, uh, get a lot of support from my wife, but I'm now looking forward to the next stage of our married life and really bringing up a child. Teaching the baby things and caring for the baby, introducing them to our friends, and, and our extended family, and, and you know, I think that's going to be a really, sort of, special time.
Omaima What's the first thing you do to welcome the baby to Islam?
Hawra When the baby is ready the first thing that we will do is to read the call for prayer in Arabic. It's adhan and iqamah .Adhan is the first part of the call for prayers, is recited in the right ear of the baby, and the iqamah is recited in the left ear of the baby.
Mustafa (Mustafa recites call to prayer in Arabic.)
Mustafa We start off with reciting that God is great. Allahu akbar. We recite it four times and then we declare that there is no God but Allah. So, Ash-hadu an-la ilaha illa Allah, which is recited twice.
Hawra It can be read by anyone, but generally the dad is there, so he will be the first one to read. It's seen as a blessing for them and for the baby, uh, so people like being there.
Omaima Do you know what you're going to call the baby?
Hawra We have got a few names in mind, uh, and then we will decide on the day, I think. Uh, but in Islam, it's recommended to call the babies after the names of the 99 names of God. One of the 99 names is, uh, Raheem, and Raheem means, uh, merciful. There is a prophetic saying that says, uh, I think about 50% of a name of a child does affect the personality. So by giving them beautiful name like merciful, you would hope that child would be merciful to others when they grow up.
Hawra There are lots of other traditions in Islam when the baby is born. Um, one of them is tahneek, putting something sweet in the mouth of the baby, be a bit of date or a bit of honey, and this means this baby would grow into, uh, someone with a sweet nature.
Omaima What other things do people do when the baby is born?
Mustafa If the baby is a boy, we will be, uh, going through a tradition that we have, which started from the prophet Abraham or Ibrahim, who was, uh, one of the messengers and the prophets of God. And, he, he circumcised his son, and that ever since, uh, our traditions is that we've continued this, um, this practice. And so, what we'll be organising is inviting a doctor to remove the foreskin of the penis, and this sort of resembles and signifies purity. Some people do it after three months, some people do it after six months. But usually it's between the first three years of the birth of the child.
Hawra One of the traditions that, uh, Muslims practice when the baby is born is the aqiqah, which is done on the seventh day. Um, it's basically introducing the baby to the whole family, bringing everyone together, sharing a big meal. Traditionally, people slaughter an animal, but, uh, I wiil be just ordering some food from the restaurant, the easy way.
Mustafa So I'm really delighted to have all our friends and family here with us today to share with you the joyful occasion that we have been very lucky that Jenna has blessed our lives.
Guest Okay. Question number six. In the Holy Quran, Ayatul Mubahala was found in Surah Al-baqara. True or false?
Mustafa So one part, of the aqiqah is to shave the hair of the baby and weigh it and find out the value of that weight in gold and its worth. And then it's seen as a really important blessing to give that to charity. And, so that's something that we would like to do. I'm not sure if Laura will let me shave the hair, the baby. As it's winter and it's going to be cold.
Omaima We've had a really great day celebrating Jenna today. The food was amazing. The quiz was really good. My team nearly won, but most importantly, it was really nice to spend my time with my friends and family.
Omaima Jenna has been given an amazing welcome to the world. Hawra, Mustafa and the whole family have done everything they could to make sure she is loved and looked after and brought up as a Muslim. I'm looking forward to babysitting her, just maybe not changing the nappies.
Extremists – A back street brawl between two young men with extreme and opposing views – men who would never take the time to talk, to listen, to understand each other. And yet… a conversation begins. This provocative film reveals some challenging truths about prejudice, extremism and radicalisation, and shows that the best way to understand these problems is to talk.
The attached lesson materials featuring this film have been awarded the PSHE Association‘s Quality Mark.
TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:
AQA Component 2 - Religious, philosophical and ethical studies in the modern world Theme D - Religion, peace and conflict - Terrorism -Religious understanding of and attitudes to terrorism Component 2 - Religious, philosophical and ethical studies in the modern world: Theme F – Religion, human rights and social justice - Human Rights - Issues of equality, freedom of religion and belief including freedom of religious expression.
Edexcel Section 4: Peace and Conflict -Section 4: Peace and Conflict - Issues surrounding conflict:divergent Muslim teachings and responses to the nature of problems involved in conflict – violence, war, and terrorism; how Muslims have worked to overcome these issues, including Malik's Muwatta 21. 3. 10; non-religious (including atheist and Humanist) views towards the issues surrounding conflict and Muslim responses to them. Area of Study 3 – Islam - Section 4: Equality - Muslim teaching on human rights: Muslim teachings and responses to the nature and purpose of human rights; why Muslims might support human rights as important, including Surah 5: 8; divergent Muslim responses to the need for and application of individual human rights, including the support offered by situation ethics; the problems human rights might cause for Muslims; Muslim responses to non-religious (including atheist and Humanist) arguments about human rights.
OCR Religion,philosophy and ethics in the modern world from a religious perspective - Religion, peace and conflict -Violence and conflict- Key philosophical and ethical concepts: • Forms of violence • War •Justificationof violence • Just War theory - The relationship between religion,politics and terrorism in the 21st century •Different religious attitudes towards terrorism and the causes of terrorism.
WJEC PART B - Theme 2: Issues of Good and Evil - Forgiveness Peace and conflict: Just War Theory/Lesser Jihad, Pacifism and Conscientious Objectors Islamic teachings about forgiveness: Qur'an 64:14, 42:30 Examples of forgiveness arising from personal beliefs Good, Evil and Suffering Philosophical perspectives on the origin of evil: The Devil tests humans: Qur'an 2:34, 155 The belief in pre-destination (al Qadr)
EDUQAS Component 1 (Route A) Religious, Philosophical and Ethical Studies in the Modern World - Theme 4: Issues of Human Rights - Human Rights and Social Justice ➢ Islamic beliefs, teachings and attitudes toward the dignity of human life: Qur'an 5:32 ➢ Islamic practices to promote human rights including equality: ummah in action ➢ An example of conflict between personal conviction and the laws of a country ➢ Censorship, freedom of religious expression and religious extremism (including Islamphobia) Prejudice and discrimination ➢ Islamic beliefs, teachings and attitudes towards prejudice and discrimination: Qur'an 5:8, 49:13 ➢ Islamic beliefs, teachings and attitudes towards racial prejudice and discrimination, including the actions of the Christian/Muslim Forum
Extremists
Man 1 You bloody terrorist!
Man 2 What?
Man 1 You're a bloody terrorist.
Man 2 I'm not.
Man 1 What?
Man 2 I'm not a terrorist. I'm an extremist.
Man 1 Exactly.
Man 2 They're two different things.
Man 1 What?
Man 2 Terrorist and extremist. They don't mean the same thing.
Man 1 They do.
Man 2 They don't. Not all extremists are violent.
Man 1 Well, most of them are.
Man 2 Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Jesus.
Man 1 I was talking about Muslim extremists. You're all Islamists.
Man 2 Do you even know what an Islamist is?
Man 1 Yeah. All right. What's an Islamist?
Man 2 Someone who believes the world should be controlled by Islam. The government, law, society.
Man 1 Well, then.
Man 2 Do you know what Islam means?
Man 1 What, you mean-
Man 2 The word Islam.
Man 1 No.
Man 2 Submission or peace.
Man 1 Submission or peace?
Man 2 Yeah.
Man 1 How can it mean submission or peace?
Man 2 Because to me, submission is peace. I submit myself to the will of God and it brings me peace.
Man 1 But you want more?
Man 2 No, no, no, no, I want everyone in this country, everyone in this world, to submit themselves to the will of Allah Sharia Law.
Man 1 Exactly.
Man 2 Yeah, because then we'll all live in peace and harmony. That's what makes me an extremist. It doesn't mean I want to go around blowing people up. It just means I'm standing up for something. But you-
Man 1 Right, I'll stand up against people like you, trying to ruin this country.
Man 2 And how am I?
Man 1 We used to be the greatest country in the world until people like you started coming here.
Man 2 What do you mean? Brown people like me?
Man 1 Too right. You're all bloody the same, you want free schools and hospitals when you don't even belong here, you don't even try to fit in.
Man 2 And what gives you the right to decide who belongs?
Man 1 Because I was born here, British born and bred.
Man 2 I was born here too.
Man 1 Yes, but you're not English, though, are you? Where are your parents born?
Man 2 Pakistan.
Man 1 Exactly.
Man 2 But I was born here. You can't choose your parents and where you're born.
Man 1 All right, I'll give you that. But-
Man 2 Where was your parents born?
Man 1 Slough.
Man 2 What about your grandparents?
Man 1 England.
Man 2 Yeah, all of them? Do you know, as a white British man, you share a third of your DNA with the Germans? Nearly half with the French. So how does that make you feel? You racist.
Man 1 I'm not racist. I just hate Muslims. You just said it for yourself. You want to take over the bloody world. You're a bunch of medieval barbarians.
Man 2 Man, where'd you get this stuff?
Man 1 9/11, 7/7, ISIS, Al-Qaeda.
Man 2 Do you know, there's over 1.5 billion of us. We're not all the same. We're not all terrorists. We're not even all extremists. Most Muslims just want to live a quiet life.
Man 1 I've read about what you lot want.
Man 2 Where?
Man 1 Newspapers. What? It's the news. They have to check their facts.
Man 2 What you don't think they're going to choose to report some facts and not others?
Man 1 Yeah, they'll report the important ones.
Man 2 Newspapers want drama, blood, death, bad guy. They're never going to report 'Yesterday, millions of Muslims all over the world were living their lives in peace and harmony'. Real world Muslims aren't such a threat to you.
Man 1 Yeah, but you stand out like it's deliberate. I don't see why you can't just be like us.
Man 2 Because I'm a fundamentalist.
Man 2 That means I live my life strictly by the teaching of my religion, the Qur'an and the saying the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, peace be upon him.
Man 1 Why would you choose to live like that?
Man 2 I didn't choose, I was born a muslim.
Man 1 You can't be born a religion.
Man 2 Religion feels good. I look at myself in the mirror and I know who I am.
Man 1 Right. So you want to turn us all into Muslims because it makes you feel good?
Man 2 Yeah, okay, I do.
Man 1 Right, do you know how scary that is? You can't just come here and tell us to speak Arabic, cover up our women and chop off the hands of our criminals and not eat bacon. We're British. It's not the way we do things here. So of course we're going to fight back.
Man 2 So you're allowed to fight back, but we're not?
Man 1 What do you have to fight back against?
Man 2 It's not the British being attacked. I've been really attacked by soldiers, tanks, drones. My people are being oppressed. Of course I want to fight for them.
Man 1 But you said Islam means peace. Doesn't it say in your Qur'an that killing people is wrong?
Man 2 Except in a just cause, and this is a just cause. This is a just war. When America wants to wipe out the Muslim people.
Man 1 Where'd you get that from?
Man 2 What?
Man 1 America wants to wipe out Muslim people. Come on.
Man 2 The internet. What?
Man 1 There are 300 million people in America. They're not all the same either. Some of them are Muslims.
Man 2 Well, fine. But Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Syria, Guantanamo. Look, there's a war to be fought, man.
Man 1 But you're not a soldier.
Man 2 I could be.
Man 1 What, so you want to go die in a desert?
Man 2 Yeah, maybe I do.
Man 1 Why?
Man 2 Because, because I want to feel a part of it. Yeah, danger and glory and brotherhood. It's exciting, okay yeah. Is it, is it so bad? And I, and I hate this country. I mean, how would you feel if-
Man 1 What?
Man 2 If you, if you grew up learning alcohol is wrong? Homosexuality is wrong. Women showing their bodies is wrong. Sex before marriage is wrong. Think how I feel when I walk the streets and I see women in their tiny skirts, tight tops and the sex on TV and movies and music videos, adverts.
Man 1 Jealous.
Man 2 Angry and disgusted and frightened. And, yeah, jealous, because I can't help seeing this.
Man 1 If you don't like it, go back to Pakistan.
Man 2 How did you get like this?
Man 1 Like what?
Man 2 How did you get so radicalised?
Man 1 Hey, I'm not radicalised.
Man 2 Yes, you are.
Man 1 You're the one who's radicalised.
Man 2 Of course I am, because I'm angry. I want the world to be somewhere I can feel safe. I want someone to blame for the things that scare me, and yeah I've met people who felt the same way, and it was like waking up. They understood me and it felt good. And bit by bit we made each other angrier. So yeah, we radicalised ourselves because we wanted to outdo each other, and you're the same
Man 1 I'm bloody not.
Man 2 You're an extremist, you're a racist. How did you get to be like this?
Man 1 Because-
Man 2 Why do you hate me so much?
Man 1 Because the world's a mess. I mean we can't trust the media or the banks. And there weren't any jobs. Dad never had a job, so there wasn't anything for us to do except, you know, watch telly, go online and see these adverts which tell you life's about having money, cars, phones and watches, and we couldn't have any of that. So you look around for something else to make you feel like you're a part of something, a football team, a band, a gang. And then you get older and you still don't have the money or the job or the stuff you're supposed to have, so you start to feel like cut off. Like, you got no, no reason, no purpose, and you look around for for someone to blame, anyone. It could be bankers, immigrants, paedos, and then you hear about these Muslim terrorists waging a war against your way of life, but you don't know any terrorists, but you know, some Muslims and bam! You found a purpose, an enemy, and you do something about it because it gives you a reason to exist, and that's what we all need. We need to feel like we know who we are.
Man 2 No society is perfect in this life.
Man 1 So why don't you think for yourself then?
Man 2 Why don't you?
Man 1 I do.
Man 2 Do you?
Man 1 Well, do you?
Man 2 All right. Maybe I don't always think for myself.
Man 1 Well, maybe I don't either.
Man 2 I still believe Sharia law is the right way to live.
Man 1 I still think the British way of life is disappearing because of people like you.
Man 2 So, what do we do?
Man 1 Well, I guess we keep on talking.
Man 2 All right. I've got to go.
Man 1 Me, too.
Man 2 My daughter.
Man 1 Got a daughter?
Man 2 Yeah.
Man 1 How old?
Man 2 Three.
Man 1 Mines five. You getting the bus?
Man 2 Yeah. 58.
Man 1 That's mine too.
Man 2 Alright.
7/7 – On Thursday the 7th of July 2005, four bombs were detonated in central London – three on tube trains and one on a double-decker bus. 52 innocent people were killed and over 700 more were injured in the first ever suicide bombings in the UK. We speak to people whose lives were directly affected by the attacks and hear their testimonies, as well as perspectives from an Imam and an expert in the study of terrorism.
Holy Books: The Bible – A range of different people from a vicar to a translator describe how the Bible was put together and why it means so much to Christians.
TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:
AQA
Edexcel
Area of Study 1 - Christianity - The significance and importance of the various beliefs, issues and practices to Christians today should be explored throughout the sections. This should include reference to how the Bible informs a Christian’s understanding of the topics and how approaches to the issues are underpinned by philosophical arguments and ethical theory as applicable. Area of Study 3 – Catholic Christianity - The significance and importance of the various beliefs, issues and practices to Catholics today should be explored throughout the sections. This should include reference to how the Bible informs a Catholic’s understanding of the topics and how approaches to the issues are underpinned by philosophical arguments and ethical theory as applicable. Area of Study 1 – Catholic Christianity - The significance and importance of the various beliefs, issues and practices to Catholics today should be explored throughout the sections. This should include reference to how the Bible informs a Catholic’s understanding of the topics and how approaches to the issues are underpinned by philosophical arguments and ethical theory as applicable.
OCR
Component Group 1 - Christianity Belief sand teachings & Practices - Worship • The structure of church services, for example Anglican Communion service, Roman Catholic mass, Quaker meeting, Greek Orthodox service and Methodist Sunday morning worship • The concept of worship • Purposes of worship • The role and importance of liturgical worship for some Christians •The role and importance of informal/charismatic worship for some Christians • The role and importance of individual prayer, private prayeranddevotionforChristians • The role and importance of private and public worship to Christian communities and individuals •Different interpretations and emphases given to sources of wisdom and authority by different Christian denominations
WJEC
2.2 Unit 2 PART A - Christianity - Core beliefs, teachings and practices Beliefs - The Bible Ø As Word of God, authority, sacred scripture (Deuteronomy 4:1-2) inspiration and revelation Ø As a collection of writings based on context, audience, society, authors' intentions Ø Uses/usefulness (2 Timothy 3:16-17); absolute law, guidance, use during worship and ceremonies (Christening, Marriage, Funerals) Ø Differing ways of interpreting biblical writings: literal, conservative, symbolic, biblical myth Ø Bible in relation to other sources of authority, e.g. conscience (Romans 2:14-15), family, reason, society, situations, civil law, circumstances
Component 2 (Route A) Study of Christianity - Salvation ➢ Law: Word of God; inspiration and revelation; differing ways of interpreting biblical writings; Bible in relation to other sources of authority.
Eduqas
Component 2 (Route A) Study of Christianity - Salvation ➢ Law: Word of God; inspiration and revelation; differing ways of interpreting biblical writings; Bible in relation to other sources of authority.
Holy Books: The Bible
Alistair McConville The Bible is a collection of books. In fact, the word Bible means a collection of books, and it's divided into two. There's the Old Testament, which is composed of 39 small books, and there's the New Testament, which has 27 small books.
Eddie Arthur The Old Testament was written in Hebrew with a few bits in Aramaic.
Alex Wood The Old Testament is the story of God creating the world, and Israel, who are his chosen people.
Tanya Walker Some of it is poetry, some of it is biography, some of it is straightforward narration of history.
Alistair McConville Books of law, for example. This is Leviticus, which tells the early Jewish people how to live. Poetic books like the Psalms, which would have been put to music. This is Proverbs, which is philosophical reflections, really. There are books of prophecy, like Jeremiah, that explain what God is saying about the future of the Israelites.
Alex Wood The Bible is all about God's rescue plan, and that plan really comes into play when Jesus comes into the story, and that's the beginning of the New Testament.
Alistair McConville The New Testament talks about Jesus as the Messiah, the Christian fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies.
Alex Wood The point is that Jesus is God's Son, and he came to keep God's promise that we will be with God forever.
Eddie Arthur The New Testament was written in Greek because Greek was understood right across the world at that time.
Alistair McConville There's a collection of biographies of Jesus, those are the Gospels. There are letters from various important early Christians, and it has apocalyptic works that are predicting how the world's going to end. Most people don't think of God as having literally written the Bible with a pen and paper. Rather, they think that God inspired human writers to record those things that God wanted to say.
Eddie Arthur If you read the book of Revelation, John said, an angel told me to write this down.
Alistair McConville Sometimes it's clear that they are speaking for themselves about their own understanding of what God has said or done.
Eddie Arthur Luke says, I asked a lot of people. I did a lot of reading, and I've written this up.
Alistair McConville As people continue to write about Jesus, it became important to make a final decision about what was going to be in the Bible. Lots of bishops came together when the Roman Empire became officially Christian, to discuss which books that they already knew and respected should be in the official version of the Bible, and which shouldn't.
Tanya Walker So the Bible is actually made up of 66 different books, written by over 40 different people across a span of around 1500 years, across three different continents, three different languages, and loads of different genres. There's all sorts of different things going on, and when we come to read the Bible, we, we bear in mind what kind of text am I reading and how is it appropriate to interpret it?
Alistair McConville How to interpret individual passages varies. So in the Catholic Church, for example, only the church has the authority to explain to Christians what the Bible means. In the Protestant church, more characteristically, individuals have greater scope to interpret the Bible for themselves.
Tanya Walker Some of it is poetry, and we're meant to read it allegorically, metaphorically, it's hinting at different things, but it's not meant to be taken literally.
Alistair McConville Some Christians say that Genesis, for example, is a historical account of the beginning of the world. Other Christians say that Genesis tells us something true in a metaphorical way.
Tanya Walker Other bits we realise, okay, the person who was writing this section meant and intended for it to be read as straightforward history.
Alistair McConville The Gospels are a really important part of the Bible. They are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, four different books, each of which gives an account of the life of Jesus.
Tanya Walker This is exactly how it happened, the people are saying, these are our eyewitness accounts of what happened. But then, of course, some of the things that Jesus says are stories. He tells parables, and we're not to take them literally, but we're to understand that in that story there is a meaning that we're to take and to apply to our lives.
Alex Wood I think loads of us find reading the Bible really difficult, and I definitely was like that. I never read the Bible, and whenever I did, I found it really tricky to understand. It wasn't really until I joined a church and I met a friend and he explained how to read the Bible, where to start, which bits to read, and since then, I've found reading the Bible one of the most fulfilling things that I do.
Tanya Walker So you may have noticed that Christians write in their Bible, or that their Bibles are very worn through sometimes. This is because Christians believe that it's the meaning that's important and precious, and not the paper and ink itself.
Eddie Arthur And from that we have the notion that the Bible itself can be translated. The important thing is that it's available in the language of the people who are reading it.
Tanya Walker Now, it's been translated into over 2000 languages. That's ten times more than any other book.
Eddie Arthur This is a New Testament in a language called Guéré from the Ivory Coast. (Reads from the bible). There is no one way that people do translation. In Ivory Coast we worked in a mud hut, with solar panels on the roof, and a laptop plugged into that and discussed the text in Greek, seek to express it as clearly as possible in Guéré, and then go through a rigorous process of review checking, editing. It took longer to revise it than it did to do the initial translation.
Alex Wood On Sundays, we read the Bible together. Somebody will step up onto this stage here, they'll open the Bible and they'll find a particular passage, and then we'll all grab our Bibles where we're sat, and we'll have a look at it together. The most important thing, I guess, is for that preacher or that speaker to explain how the passage is relevant to us today, how is it going to make a difference to our lives?
Holy Books: The Torah – A Rabbi and two Jewish scribes (who happen to be married – to each other, not to the Rabbi) describe the Torah – what it contains, how the scrolls are copied, and the ways in which the Torah is used in worship.
TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:
AQA
Component 1 - The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices - Judaism - The synagogue and worship - The written law (Tenakh) and the oral law (Talmud) and their study, use and significance in daily life.
Edexcel
Area of Study 1 – Judaism - Section 1: Jewish Beliefs - The nature of the Almighty: how the characteristics of the Almighty are shown in the Torah, and why they are important in Jewish life today, including One, Creator, Law-Giver and Judge, including reference to Genesis 2.
OCR
Component Group 1 - Judaism - Practices -Worship• The structure of the synagogue service •The importance of the synagogue, in relation to the following religious features: •• Design •• Artefacts •• Synagogue services •• The role of the synagogue within the Jewish community •• Worship in the home •• The place of worship in the home •The significance of the Ark, the Bimah, the lack of representation of G-d, the Ner Tamid and the Mikveh • The nature and importance of the Torah readings, other readings, prayers and sermons •The connection between the synagogue and the Temple • Issues related to worship and the synagogue, including the length and structure of synagogue services and different uses of Hebrew in the service • Common and divergent emphases placed on the features of a synagogue by different Jewish groups, including separating women and men in an Orthodox synagogue •Different interpretations and emphases given to sources of wisdom and authority by different Jewish groups
Prayer• The role and importance of prayer in Jewish worship, including the Amidah (the standing prayer) • The role and importance of private prayer for Jews • The importance of: •• The three daily periods of prayer •• The concept of spontaneous prayer •• Recitation of the Shema •• Recitation of Grace after meals •• Teaching children to pray •• The direction faced when praying •• Prayer and the observance of the Mitzvot in the home • The importance of prayer for praise, confession, thanks giving and supplication.
Law• The form and content of the Tenakh (the Written Law) • The Chumash and the Sefer Torah • The nature of the Talmud (the Oral Law) •The relationship between the Talmud and the Torah, including the ways in which the Talmud is used in relation to the Torah • The use of the Torah in the synagogue • The use of the Tenakh in private worship • The way that the Torah provides structure to the life of a Jew, including the use of the Neviim and Ketuvim in public and private worship •The significance of the use in daily life of the Tenakh and the Talmud •Issues related to the law, including the different views held amongst religious Jews regarding the nature of the Torah and the Talmud • Common and divergent emphases placed on the Tenakh and Talmud by different Jewish groups •Different interpretations and emphases given to sources of wisdom and authority by different Jewish groups.
WJEC
2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Part A Judaism - Core beliefs, teachings and practices - Practices - Worship in the home and synagogue The importance of the synagogue: internal features- aron hakodesh (ark), ner tamid, bimah, Torah, Ten Commandments, seating Reading of the Torah during synagogue worship Diverse practices within Orthodox and Reform synagogues – worship and the role and gender of the Rabbi The importance of the home for worship in Judaism: challenges and benefits of observing Shabbat (Exodus 20:8-10) 2.2 Unit 2 PART A – Judaism - - Core beliefs, teachings and practices Beliefs - Sacred Texts Importance of The Tenakh (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim) as revealed and/or inspired Word of God Importance of the Talmud
Eduqas
Component 3 (Route A) - Option 4: Judaism - Practices - The Synagogue ➢ Features of different synagogues in Britain: significance of bimah, aron hakodesh, Torah scrolls, ner tamid, seating, minyan; Exodus 20:4-5
Holy Books: The Torah
Rabbi Benji Stanley Torah the word means teaching. The way teaching is often given in Judaism is through books.
Avielah Barclay The Torah has a lot of valuable lessons and a lot of interesting things to say, even to people who are not Jewish.
Mordechai Pinchas That's totally correct, because the reason that the Torah was given in the desert, for everyone to see, was that everybody has a piece of the Torah.
Rabbi Benji Stanley People sometimes call it the Five Books of Moses, because he's one of the main characters, and also he was involved in writing them down. So Torah can mean the five books, or it can mean all those books and conversations that have grown up around the five books, with people trying to figure out how to live responsibly and kindly.
Rabbi Benji Stanley We read the five books of Torah on a scroll written in Hebrew.
Mordechai Pinchas So the Torah is really five books in one.
Rabbi Benji Stanley Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, and Deuteronomy. Or actually the Jewish terms for those books are Bereshit, Shemot, Vayikra, Ba Midbar and D'varim. So at the beginning of the Torah, we have the story of creation, the story of Adam and Eve, the story of Noah, and then we have the story of Abraham, who had a child, Isaac, and the first book of the Torah tells us about their travels and their missions.
Mordechai Pinchas Second book is called Shemot, Exodus, and that's about the Jews who were stuck in Egypt, and then they were freed from slavery, lots of miracles, and then moved off on to their journey to the Promised Land, which is Israel.
Rabbi Benji Stanley Moses leads the people to Mount Sinai, and Moses runs up the mountain, has some conversations with God, and then carries some of God's laws down the mountain on two tablets of stone.
Mordechai Pinchas The third book is kind of a bit of an interruption. It's called Vayikra, and it's about the priests and the offerings, and it's lots and lots of rules.
Rabbi Benji Stanley Nowadays in Judaism, we don't sacrifice animals, but we do give up our time, in order to think about how to behave well in the world.
Mordechai Pinchas And then the fourth book is Bamidbar. It's all about the wandering in the desert for 40 years, really, that's about them stopping being slaves and learning to actually be a people.
Rabbi Benji Stanley They tend to complain a lot. They argue with Moses, they argue with God, but eventually they're getting towards a new land, and that's what we have in the fifth book of the Torah.
Mordechai Pinchas Finally, the last book just before they go into Israel is Moses telling them all the rules, reminding them of everything that's been happening. That's called D'varim, Deuteronomy.
Rabbi Benji Stanley Moses dies just before the people enter the land of Israel. So in a way, the five books of Torah end with Moses being buried.
Rabbi Benji Stanley The Torah scroll is treated with great respect. So it has clothes like a queen or a king. It has wonderful silver crowns and it has this special robe. Now we undress it on Saturday morning during our service, and also some synagogues have services on Monday and Thursday morning as well, when you would also undress the scroll in order to read from it. Hagbah means lifting up, and it's a moment when someone lifts up the scroll so the whole community can see the section which is going to be read, and you would show all directions so that everyone can see it. (Reads passage from the Torah in Hebrew)
Avielah Barclay We read the Torah from right to left, and we read it using something called a yad, which means hand in Hebrew. And as you can see, there's a little hand carved at the end of this, and we use it to point at the letters as we read them.
Rabbi Benji Stanley We don't want to touch the parchment, the stuff that the scroll is written on directly with our fingers. And that's one of the reasons we also dress the scroll so that when we're not using it, it's well respected. It's in its special ark, which is where the scroll lives, where the scroll is kept.
Avielah Barclay The scrolls that we use today are essentially the same as the first ones written thousands of years ago, because we can only copy from one to another, and then it has to be checked three times, because one mistake can change the whole meaning of what it says. It's important for it to be written by hand. A computer can print out a book that you can read, and you can still learn it that way, but you can't use it in public ritual because it hasn't been imbued with the holiness that a person with a soul can give to it.
Mordechai Pinchas So originally all the Torahs were written with one of these. This is a reed quill. Nowadays most people use a feather. This is a swan's quill. But this quill is from a vulture. The bird we can't eat, so I can't use it to write. The parchment sheets, they're joined together with animal sinew and gold plated needle.
Rabbi Benji Stanley But the book is never finished. You can roll up the scroll, but really, the scroll continues. In all those conversations we have about what does this mean and how does it affect my life?
The Gospel of Luke – The Resurrection – In the last of three dramatised extracts from Luke’s Gospel that tell the Easter story, we see the disciples pass from the depths of sorrow as Jesus is buried, to the heights of joy when he returns from the dead (Luke 23: 50 to 24:47).
Courtesy of The Lumo Project.
The Gospel of Luke – The Crucifixion – In the second of three dramatised extracts from Luke’s Gospel that tell the Easter story, we see Jesus’ trials and his crucifixion at Golgotha – the Place of the Skull (Luke 22: 54 to 23:49).
Courtesy of The Lumo Project.
The Gospel of Luke – The Last Supper – In the first of three dramatised extracts from Luke’s Gospel that tell the Easter story, we see the events leading up to Jesus’ arrest – from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the Last Supper (Luke 19:36-48; 20:19-26; 21:37 to 22:34; and 22:39-54).
Courtesy of The Lumo Project.
I Am Pagan – The number of Pagans in the UK has doubled in recent years, and you probably follow some Pagan traditions yourself without even realising it. Nick Taylor – a practising pagan himself – talks us through the eight Pagan festivals, their links to the natural year, and the influence they’ve had on many British traditions.
©2025 CTVC Ltd
